I didn’t read Fifty Shades of Grey, the steamy best-selling trilogy written by British author E. L. James, which has been described as an erotic Cinderella story of sexting, spanking, and bondage.

My girlfriend and most of her middle-aged contemporaries read the series, and I recall her once dropping her used copies in a paper grocery sack, unmarked, and setting the package on her doorstep for a clandestine pickup by one of her friends. Yes, a dead drop . . . just among friends.

Apparently they were trying to keep their late-night erotica reading on the down low.

So what does this have to do with espionage and The Spy’s Son?

Only this: I'm delighted to report that Japan’s cutting edge publishing company, Hayakawa, which brought the Fifty Shades books to Japanese readers, will soon release its version of The Spy’s Son. The tentative publication date is May 9, 2017.

Yes, the author of freaking FIFTY SHADES OF GREY AND I SHARE A PUBLISHER -- she of the BDSM, me of the CIA-SVR (not to mention FBI-KGB), all tied up under one roof in Tokyo.

Publication in Japan is a big step for a first-time author like me. The nation of 126 million people is extremely well read, and books there are wildly popular. The nation's arts and culture move at the speed of light, and I'm happy to get swept up in the excitement over my book.

I thought Hayakawa’s cover was moody, evocative, and brilliantly rendered. What do you think?

Buzz is building for The Spy's Son. Tokyo-based Fuji Network TV is bringing a crew to Portland in a couple of days, where I’ll be interviewed for the popular “Amazing Stories (Unbelievable)” show, which sounds a whole lot like Japan’s version of ABC’s“20/20.”

Let me close with this: To Hayakawa Publishing, Fuji TV, and my new friends in Japan, arigatou gozaimasu!